In 2019, the global B2B ecommerce market was valued at USD $5.7 trillion and expected to continue growing. This presents a huge opportunity for industrial businesses to increase profits by offering international shipping through your ecommerce site. So, why isn’t everyone jumping on board with selling internationally?

Are Concerns with Selling Overseas Holding Your Business Back?

Typical concerns and hassles associated with selling overseas include shipping delays, calculating additional fees, and inaccuracies in quoting. Anyone who has given a customer an incorrect quote, especially when it results in them having to pay more, knows the hassle that causes. There are also times when a package gets held up in customs because you didn’t have the right paperwork. When these things happen, you risk losing the sale, along with the time and money spent on processing that order.

Fraudulent and unauthorized online transactions are a common concern for B2B businesses as well, and understandably so. B2B shipments range from small packages shipped via parcel post to large freight shipments of metal. Depending on what you’re shipping, you could be out a lot of money.

Now, all of this isn’t to make you question whether selling overseas is even worth it. Instead, we want to cover these common concerns so we can talk about the solutions, too.

Offering International Shipping Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

Business owners might feel that these concerns outweigh the benefits of selling to customers abroad. Having these reservations is completely understandable, especially if you are a small B2B company with limited staff and resources. But hold on a minute before you say, “no way, this is not worth it!”  Companies have recognized these issues and come up with ways to help B2B business owners simplify selling their products internationally. And no, it doesn’t require having an international shipping specialist on staff or completely redoing your sales and quoting process.

Like many things in today’s world of B2B ecommerce, the answer is quite simple: International shipping software! Yes, something as simple as software can take away the headaches of selling overseas.

An Easy Answer to Streamlining Your International Shipping Processes

Can software really make selling internationally easier for your industrial business? Absolutely. First, think of all the headaches of shipping discussed earlier. All of these things have to do with the online part of the selling process: quoting, calculating fees, completing paperwork, etc. Using international shipping software means you don’t have to complete these processes manually—and greatly reduces the chance of error.

There are many companies out there offering international shipping software for B2B businesses. Before choosing software for your website, you want to make sure it provided features that make the shipping process easier and more streamlined. Not every business owner needs or wants the same international shipping software features. That’s why most of the companies offering these products have different solutions based on individual needs. Before you start shopping around, consider which of these features matter for you and your B2B business:

• Provides automatic calculation of tax, duties, and other international shipping costs.
• Calculates pricing accurately depending on the carrier selected.
• Converts product prices to the shopper’s currency.
• Has fraud coverage to protect you from scammers and credit card fraud.
• Offers country-specific messaging or translates your content into different languages based on location.

Ecreative offers shipping modules that help you streamline domestic and international shipping. Our solutions integrate seamlessly with your B2B website and make it easy to calculate, prepare, and track shipments to your customers. Send us a message to discuss international shipping software options for your B2B website!